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Women work without a break for their families, society, and friends all through the year. So, on IWD 2016, LEAD conducted their 3rd annual "Recognizing the Unrecognized", where women in our society who are rarely recognized but are responsible for important work were recognized for their contributions, such as cleaning railway stations, bus stands, picking household trash, selling vegetables etc. LEAD and LEADers believe that, without these women, our communities would come to a standstill.

The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. To that purpose, the LEaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) Program of the Deshpande Foundation was born. LEAD develops innovative and entrepreneurial thinking within college students by exposing them to social issues, encouraging them to volunteer their time and effort into the community, and igniting their latent talent to come up with creative solutions. Through this unique platform provided by LEAD, students are gaining the skills and confidence needed to transform their visions into realities. Armed with guidance, exposure, networking opportunities, financial assistance, and encouragement from LEAD, students from throughout 75 colleges and 14 districts are unleashing their leadership potential to go on inspiring and improving those around them.

The 6th Yuva Summit, an international youth conference on leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship hosted by the Leaders Accelerating Development program, began in Hubballi on 6th February with Mr. Ravindranath Gumaste, Managing Director of Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd., cutting the ceremonial ribbon that let the hundreds of attendees, including students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and honoured guests, into the event grounds.

On 24th January, 107 promising students from across Karnataka and neighbouring states descended upon the VTU campus in Belagavi to mark the kick-off of the 5th annual LEAD Prayana. These students, along with 32 beginning their journey on the same day in Nizamabad, were selected from a pool of almost 500 applicants. LEAD Prayana, which began in 2012 with just 63 students, is an annual leadership journey that takes almost 150 passionate students between the ages of 18-26 throughout India on a 14-day tour across Karnataka...

I am passionate about science, especially physics. My affair with Science started during my childhood and it deepened in my high school when I started participating in Science exhibitions with my models. During Pre University Education, I built the Levitation Train with few of my friends and grabbed prizes at several competitions. “Physics of the Impossible” by Michio Kaku was a book that exposed me further to the vastness of the science and motivated me to start a science group called “Blackbody Science Group (Which Absorbs All Wavelength of Intuitive Minds)”. This group engages in creating interest about science among government and physically disabled school children.

I am passionate about developing the Indian economy. I feel strongly that India should start relying more on itself, and less on imported products and goods from other countries. To make progress towards the greater goal of promoting the Indian economy, I decided to tackle the issue at the local level. I spread awareness of the “Be Indian, buy Indian" mentality among my fellow students by starting a Swadeshi store at my college.

Many students at my college had always expressed an interest in purchasing Swadeshi products, but finding Swadeshi products is difficult in a city as small and isolated as Laxmeshwar. I took initiative to start a Swadeshi store at my college. By establishing the store at my college, I could introduce purchasing convenience while ensuring that the Swadeshi message would remain in the consciousness of the students.

To effectively launch the Swadeshi store, I partnered with the Chetana Foundation, which invested Rs. 2,000 in the project. I also collaborated with several other LEAD students to help run the store and promote Swadeshi products to local industries.

In addition to working on my own projects in LEAD, I have involved myself in other aspects of LEAD. I regularly volunteered for other LEADers' projects at my college. For this, I was awarded the "Most Active Volunteer" at the 2013 LEAD Valedictory Ceremony in Hubli. I am now currently working for LEAD as an intern, where I am managing several colleges and mentoring students on their projects. I will also be responsible for planning LEAD Prayana.

LEAD has made me what I am today. Earlier I was not so clear about what I should do next, but I had it in my mind to become an entrepreneur. LEAD gave me the platform to take on challenges while helping society”. My LEAD involvements have given me the opportunity to develop an entrepreneurial mindset while refining my communication, management, and networking skills. LEAD ignited a spark.